Official History of Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post–Cold War Operations

Since 1947, at least 30,000 Australian peacekeepers have taken part in over 50 operations, in more than two-dozen theatres of conflict around the world, as well as a similar number of disaster-relief operations. The Australian Government has authorised the Australian War Memorial to research and write a six-volume Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post–Cold War Operations.

This important document of Australians in peacekeeping represents a world-first: the first official history of a nation’s complete peacekeeping record.

The history is official only in the sense it has government support and that the team has access to all relevant government records. What the historians write is not subject to censorship of any kind, except for reasons of national security.

Volumes

This will be Australia’s fifth official history series. Earlier series describe Australia’s role in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and south-east Asian conflicts, including the Vietnam War.

The current plan for the structure of the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post–Cold War Operations is as follows: